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This Affordable Brand’s New Dive Watch Is One of the Most Ambitious I’ve Ever Seen

It’s also way cheaper than you’d expect.

Close-up of a luxury wristwatch crown and part of the bezel and case, featuring a brushed metal finish and a detailed engraved logo on the crown, with a black background.Yema

By Johnny Brayson

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Dive watches, by nature, have to be robust. Not only must they be water-resistant to extreme depths, but they must also be resilient enough to hold up against the bumps and knocks that accompany diving and other recreational activities. After all, these watches are technically meant to be used as tools.

Tourbillon watches, by contrast, are almost always delicate by definition. The mechanism was originally designed for pocket watches to counteract the effects of gravity on the escapement. But on wristwatches — which are constantly in motion and therefore aren’t as susceptible to gravitational forces as pocket watches — tourbillons do little more than increase a watch’s fragility, since they consist of myriad extra tiny, complex moving parts.

Of course, we watch enthusiasts still love tourbillon watches because they’re fun to look at and due to the craftsmanship involved in their construction. So what if someone made a dive watch with a tourbillon that was just as resilient as a dive watch without one?

Close-up of a Yema Superman watch dial showing the intricate mechanical movement through an open-heart design. The watch hands are silver with luminous insets, and the dial has a textured black surface with white markers. The text "YEMA" and "SUPERMAN" is partially visible near the top left.
A tourbillon in a dive watch? Sure, why not?
Yema

That’s exactly what French brand Yema has done with this impressive new limited-edition version of its flagship Superman diver.

Super tourbillon

The Yema Superman Tourbillon CMM.31 Limited Edition maintains the general 1960s aesthetic of the Superman, but dials up the premium elements to better accommodate the watch’s new high-end complication.

The 43mm case is made of Grade 5 titanium and features a mix of brushed and polished finishes, while the unidirectional bezel is fitted with a domed ceramic insert. The case measures just 11.7mm thick, which doesn’t include the retro 2.1mm-tall double-domed sapphire crystal.

Stainless steel wristwatch with a textured honeycomb-patterned bracelet, black dial featuring luminous hour markers and hands, and a visible mechanical movement at the 6 o'clock position, resting on a dark blue fabric with water droplets.
The Superman Tourbillon combines the mid-century diver’s good looks with Yema’s own tourbillon movement.
Yema

Matching the svelte case is the brand’s snake-inspired “Scales Slim” bracelet, which is also made of Grade 5 titanium and is fully brushed save for a polished chamfer on the folding clasp. The clasp also features an on-the-fly microadjustment mechanism.

The large screw-down crown has no crown guards, keeping with the diver’s vintage-inspired styling, and it helps ensure an impressive 200m of water resistance. The matte-black dial has a grained texture, and the hands and indices (plus the bezel pip) are coated with blue-emission Grade A BGW9 Super-LumiNova.

The tourbillon is visible through a cutout at 6:00 on the dial and is surrounded by a white seconds track that is also fully lumed. Uniquely, the tourbillon — which often stands in for a seconds hand on watches so equipped — features its own center-mounted seconds hand with a luminous tip. After all, what’s a dive watch without a seconds hand?

Black Yema Superman wristwatch with luminous blue hour markers and hands, featuring a hexagonal-patterned black metal bracelet and a visible tourbillon mechanism at the 6 o'clock position.
A lumed minute track and seconds hand transform the tourbillon into a functional timing device instead of a mere visual oddity.
Yema

The watch’s retro diver vibe, monochrome color scheme and prominent tourbillon all add up to a seriously attractive piece, but what’s most impressive is the movement. Powering this Superman is Yema’s own manufacture calibre CMM.31 manual-wind tourbillon movement.

In addition to its tourbillon, the movement boasts an extra-large mainspring barrel, granting the watch an impressive 105-hour power reserve. The movement is also decidedly rugged, with 5,000-G shock resistance courtesy of a free-sprung balance and additional shock absorbers, plus 2,000-Gauss resistance to magnetic fields, which is quite high for a tourbillon movement. Coupled with the dive-ready 200m water resistance, this is looking like one of the most robust and resilient tourbillons on the market.

Close-up of the back of a Yema Superman watch showcasing its intricate mechanical movement with visible gears and screws. The case back is marked with "YEMA," "SUPERMAN," "TITANE GRADE 5," "FRANCE," and "20 BAR." The movement is labeled "Calibre Manufacture Montau 31" and "SUPERMAN TOURBILLON Edition Limitée 000/100." The watch has a metal bracelet and a transparent case back revealing the detailed inner workings.
Yema’s industrial finishing of the manually wound CMM.31 movement matches the watch’s toolish vibe.
Yema

What’s more, the movement has a stated accuracy of -3/+7 seconds per day — which is near chronometer levels — and it sports some nice, industrial finishing. Visible behind a sapphire crystal on the caseback, the Cal. CMM.31 features dark, microblasted bridges with vertically brushed bevels and chamfered edges.

Pricing and availability

Yema is known as an affordable brand — you can pick up an automatic Superman Heritage diver starting at just $1,249. But although the new Superman Tourbillon is certainly affordable for what it is, it is by no means an inexpensive watch.

The Yema Superman Tourbillon CMM.31 Limited Edition is priced at a cool $13,000, making it one of, if not the, most expensive watches the French brand has ever produced. But when you consider that only a handful of other tourbillon-equipped dive watches boasting similar specs exist, and all have price tags several times higher than the Yema, then it becomes a lot more reasonable.

A close-up of a hand holding a Yema Superman wristwatch with a black textured dial, silver hour markers, and a visible tourbillon mechanism at the 6 o'clock position. The watch has a stainless steel case and a unique honeycomb-patterned metal bracelet. The bezel is black with silver markings.
$13,000 is a lot for any dive watch, let alone a Yema, yet this still feels like a steal.
Yema

For example, probably the closest aesthetic match to this Yema with comparable robustness is the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon 8 Jours. Yes, the Blancpain is made of white gold and is a far nicer watch than the Yema in every respect. But it also costs a staggering $171,800. That’s … a lot.

So, if you’re willing to throw down $13,000 on a tourbillon-powered Yema diver, you’d better do so quickly. The watch is limited to just 100 examples and is available now at Yema’s website.

Stainless steel Yema Superman wristwatch with a black dial featuring luminous hour markers and hands, a rotating bezel with minute markers, and a visible tourbillon mechanism at the 6 o'clock position. The watch has a stainless steel bracelet with a hexagonal link pattern.Yema

Yema Superman Tourbillon CMM.31 Limited Edition

Specs

Case Size 43mm
Movement Yema Cal. CMM.31 manual-wind tourbillon
Water Resistance 200m
About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.

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